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Brands we like

October 18, 2013

We're over the moon at the news that our friends and clients Keelham Farm Shop last night won the title of 'Best Independent retailer' at the 10th annual Observer Food Monthly Awards.

This family-run business have decades of experience in farming and butchery. They are dedicated to (and sometimes obsessed with!) stocking the finest quality, utterly delicious local produce,supporting local farmers and producers, and making great tasting food affordable. It's really not your typical farm shop at all - which is why people voted in their hundreds for them to achieve this coveted prize at the Observer Monthly awards.

The Observer Food Monthly awards are the UK's most prestigious food awards and the award ceremony last night, presented by Sue Perkins from The Great British Bake Off and Observer restaurant critic Jay Rayner, even featured an edible trophy created by Heston Blumenthal (we can't wait to try it!).

Thompson Brand Partners rebranded Keelham Farm Shop in 2010, and since then we have supported them in their fantastic growth (read more here). Although no stranger to award wins, this one really reflects the strides that Keelham have made over the last 3 years; investments in their brand, staff and of course the shop itself have meant this business has moved from a successful local farm shop, to a major local retailer with serious growth in profit and customer numbers, national recognition and plans to open a new store in 2014.

September 12, 2013

I’ve just come back from my second trip to the
wonderful country that is Japan. I knew before I went how much the Japanese are
into cartoons, characters, manga and anime, but was blown away by how many
organisations and companies are now using mascots as representations of their
brand.

Mascots are everywhere, helping to promote brands as
diverse as bus providers to the local aquarium. My favourites were Hello Kitty
promoting curry, this loveable guy spreading positive vibes about the Tokyo
emergency services, Pokemon (still very much alive over there) and working with
the Giants baseball team (as sported by my son Dylan), and Papa Beard who
entices millions to buy his cream puffs all across the country.

The most popular of all is
Kumamon. He is a genuine household name in a country where celebrities are ten
a penny. His rosy cheeks and unreadable expression appear on hundreds of
products, from sweets and snacks to bags of rice, stationery and toys – part of
a commercial portfolio worth almost 30bn yen last year (apparently). That's not
bad for a cuddly black bear with a mischievous streak, who has risen from
humble beginnings promoting a new bullet train station in southern Japan to become the country's pre-eminent mascot.

And nothing gets the
locals more excited than someone dressed up as their favourite mascot. Whether
you at an event or wandering in the local mall, a dressed up mascot is always
in demand for snap happy, camera phone toting locals. The guy below also
appealed to my wife, Aisling.

Even Japan’s holiest mountain, Koyasan, has a mascot.
This cheeky little fella crops up in amongst some of the most significant
Buddhist temples in Japan, helping to endure thousands of pilgrims to this
wonderful place up in the hills outside Osaka.

And Nara, the former capital city, with its free
roaming wild deer and laidback vibe, has this guy with antlers as their mascot.

I’m not just looking for an excuse to just show some more
of my holiday snaps, here are a few more of my personal favourites from the
trip. I’m not sure what they are ‘selling’, but they all look great!

It all got me thinking about whether this approach
would work for brands in this country? It would certainly help people to trust
a brand more, because everyone would believe a mascot over an evil human being.
How could they ever do anything wrong? At Thompson, we know from experience
that characters included in brand visual identities we have developed can be
extremely popular, so I think the answer is yes. We just need a new and willing
client to try it out with! So come on, give us a call.

September 06, 2013

Confused.com,
the leading price comparison site has launched a new logo and brand identity, created by brand experts Thompson Brand Partners. The pioneers of price
comparison in the UK, Confused.com are experts in saving their customers money.
Over the years they have become known for Cara, their singing icon who featured
in TV advertising, and for recent Nectar points campaigns. However, in a
crowded market place, Confused.com made the decision to reposition and rebrand.

A rebrand campaign was planned to reposition the company in the minds of consumers,
which featured BRIAN the Robot who is on a mission to save the UK money. The
campaign was launched in June 2013 during the high profile Britain’s Got Talent
live shows, alongside a new brand and website. Thompson Brand Partners created
the new logo and brand identity that worked to compliment BRIAN the Robot
(created by Publicis London).The brief was to create a modern logo and identity, and one that better
reflects how technologically advanced the business and BRIAN are. It also needed
to be distinctive and identifiable to help the brand to stand out. Thompson’s
brand solution began by removing the Cara character from the logo, to give
flexibility to the identity. The new logo features a thought bubble to hold ‘.com’,
referencing the expertise and thinking of these comparison experts. A set of
digital textures were created, along with a new, fresh colour palette and a
substantial set of bespoke photo-real images to bring the website to life. The brand has been
rolled-out across the website, corporate materials and the marketing campaign.Joby Russell, Marketing Director at Confused.com, said of the rebrand, ‘The new
branding has given us the image we needed in order to reposition ourselves as experts
and market leaders. We were first to market with comparison technology and we
continue to innovate. The identity that Thompson created is modern and slick to
reflect that, and we’re confident that it will grow with us too.’ Ian Thompson,
Creative Director at Thompson Brand Partners, says, ‘Our brief was

to create something a little bit more grown-up. Confused.com has been around
for over ten years and was the first of the comparison sites, so we wanted to
bring the brand to a much more grown-up position. We used the thought bubble to
make a positive out of the negative of confusion. It’s not about a person
scratching their head any more.’

When Thompson Brand Partners began
working with Keelham Farm Shop in 2010, the business was in good
shape. They had a good, regular customer base, steady trade and a very good
reputation within the local community. They had an award-winning butchers shop,
strong family values, and a passion for good, local food. But owners Victoria
and James Robertshaw had an ambition to grow their business even more, to grow
the profit of the Thornton site, but also develop a model and brand that would
allow expansion and be transferable to new sites.Thompson engaged with Keelham through the Design Council’s ‘Design in
Demand’ programme with a brief to design a new brand identity that would
encapsulate the simple homemade quality at the heart of the Robershaw’s ethos,
to help drive the growth of the business.Thompson’s design approach was centred around a simple proposition,
‘food tastes better from the farm’. This was brought to life by creating a
flexible portfolio of components for the brand to allow Keelham the flexibility
and freedom to roll out across all aspects of the business and to individualise
each of the unique departments within the shop. The custom font, colour palette
and visual style helped with flexibility, and a handdrawn illustrative style
for icons articulated themes and messaging in a distinct way. The new branding has since been applied throughout the shop, inside and
out, as well as to packaging, the website, uniforms, communications and vehicle
liveries, driven by Thompson and the team at Keelham.The rebrand has already delivered fantastic results, especially
impressive in an extremely competitive market. In 3 years since the rebrand,
turnover is up 52%, profit margins are up to 32.4% (from 28.4%) and
weekly customer numbers are up 27%. All of this has been achieved with a
commitment to affordability, with an average basket of 37 items bought at
Keelham on 13 Feb 2013 was 17% cheaper than Asda, 18% cheaper than Tesco, and
28% cheaper than Sainsbury’s.

The most exciting development has been the acquisition of a site for the
next Keelham Farm Shop in Skipton, North Yorkshire. Planning permission has
been secured and work starts on site in Autumn 2013 leading to an opening in
2014.

“With
the help of Thompson Brand Partners, we have articulated our brand values and
developed an exciting visual identity which has refreshed our business without
losing what we had and helped drive considerable growth. Importantly, the
branding is also being successful in enabling us to build our business further
and has created a template to enable future growth including other farm shop
sites.” Victoria Robertshaw, Joint Owner, Keelham Farm Shop.

The museum is the largest
railway museum in the world, telling the story of rail transport and its impact
on society. With National Museum status, it has the important responsibility of
representing the subject area’s past, present and future. In recent years,
however, the museum was suffering appealing mainly to enthusiasts and not
families families, resulting in 4 consecutive years of falling visitor numbers.NRM knew that it needed to
review its brand in order to drive visitors numbers and increase family appeal.
With funding increasingly hard to come by, these uplifts were crucial if they
were to meet their ultimate objective to grow revenue to sustain their
business.

NRM undertook a brand
repositioning exercise, defining its brand essence as ‘Connecting Generations’ and
defined a new essence and set of values. Thompson Brand Partners was appointed
to create a new visual identity to articulate the new brand and to help improve
consistency of communications and behaviour.

Thompson created a
contemporary brand identity, but one that also reflected the rich heritage of
rail travel. The brand was brought to life with a new logo and branding
designed to reflect movement and speed. Thompson also introduced the use of
name in full, rather than the abbreviation ‘NRM’ as a reminder of the national
status and specialist subject matter of the museum. The agency also created
extensive brand guidelines and a large selection of applications designed to
help the Museum team roll-out the new branding, including the website,
merchandise and signage.The results have been fantastic, against all objectives set. After the rebrand,
NRM saw their visitor numbers increase by 15% between 2011 and 2013. Family
visits have improved too, increasing from 41% to 59% of the total visitor
numbers. All this in a falling local market, which saw visitors to major
attractions in York down by 12% from 2009 to 2012. Online visits increased by a
huge 34% between 2010 to 2011. The rebrand delivered a staggering return on
investment: an additional 7 visitors for every £1 spent on the rebrand
exercise.Thompson Brand Partners’
Creative Director Ian Thompson worked on the branding himself and thoroughly
enjoyed the project: “It doesn’t get much better than this! A fantastic project
with a wealth of history, iconic imagery and wonderful reference, all combined
in a re-positioning brand exercise for one of the best museums in the world.
The results speak for themselves!”

August 27, 2013

Thompson Brand Partners has created a new identity for what promises to be a bold new space for contemporary art in the UK.

The Hepworth Wakefield launches ‘The Calder’ on Thursday 29 August, their new contemporary art space in the grounds of their site in the former industrial area of Wakefield.

The Calder occupies part of the Caddies Wainwright Mill, a 19th Century textile mill on site at The Hepworth, which has remained undeveloped since the 70s. The initial restoration work on the mill has created a 600 sq m uninterrupted space for contemporary art exhibitions. The space is designed to be temporary, remaining open for three years, courtesy of owner and landlord Wakefield Council.

The river that runs right next to The Hepworth Wakefield is the inspiration behind the name of the new space, so significant is its role in the history of the site and now its contribution to the architectural dynamic of the iconic building.

Presenting a changing contemporary art programme to complement the collection and exhibitions in the 10 main galleries, The Calder will open with an installation by leading contemporary artist Roger Hiorns, running from 30 August to 3 November,with free admission.

Thompson Brand Partners worked closely with the team at The Hepworth Wakefield to devise the name, visual identity and launch campaign for The Calder.

The typographic visual approach uses heavy caps to help to articulate the remit and attitude of the new space with bold, occasionally challenging statements.

The brand has been realised by Thompson Brand Partners across signage, staff uniforms, printed publications and marketing material both on and offline.

Head of Marketing and Communications Hollie Latham says of the new identity: ‘The Hepworth Wakefield is really gaining recognition so it was important that the identity for the new space felt like an extension of what we’re about, not something completely unrelated. The brief was to create something that works alongside what we have, but that is distinctive enough to appeal to a much wider audience – predominantly younger. Thompson has helped us find something more than just a brand identity – it’s a whole way of being that allows us the flexibility to develop and change.’Thompson Brand Partners’ designer Ash Spurr said, ‘Approaching the creative aspect of the project through copywriting allowed for a more direct and bold approach than could have been achieved through images. The Hepworth staff really embraced the brand and haven’t been afraid to take risks with it. It would have been very easy for the gallery to go with the safe and easy option, but they gave us the freedom to develop a challenging, and fun identity that gives the space not only its own identity, but a platform for debate and experimentation.’

April 05, 2012

If you're stuck for a Bank Holiday activity for this weekend, pop down to Yorkshire Sculpture Park and witness sculpture - live.

Artist Florence Peake is coming to Yorkshire to conduct the live build and then deconstruction of a monolithic structure before the eyes of a live audience. The build/performance begins at 17.00, is FREE to attend and will last for about an hour, with refreshments available (theatre-style).

March 19, 2012

It seems so obvious, I can't believe no one beat Prettypegs to it... This Swedish company produce quirky, playful legs that screw into the bottom of IKEA sofas and beds, allowing you to quickly, easily and relatively cheaply update your furniture (well, it's cheaper than a new sofa anyway).

Prettypegs allow you to choose your design and colour, and will ship it all the way from sunny Sweden for you to install yourself, IKEA-style.

November 07, 2011

We booked family trip to Disneyland Paris during the October school holidays and had a wonderful time. It’s funny but I started reading about the history of Disneyland Paris when I got back and was shocked to see that it struggled when it first opened with low attendance figures – amazing to think when it was heaving while we were there.

Apparently one of the reasons for its slow uptake was the name. Originally launched as EuroDisney, this was seen as a negative name. For Europeans the word Euro is a term associated with business, currency and commerce and not with the fun and excitement of a theme park. Euro was dropped in 1995 and Disneyland Paris was born. The power of words never fails to astound me!

Anyway, I though I would put down some top tips for anyone planning to visit Disneyland Paris in the not too distant future.

Coffee - You can’t get a decent cup of coffee for love nor money so if you need a certain amount of caffeine to get you going on a morning, you might need to think again.

Cost - You can pay up to €9 for a pint of beer and €17 for burger and chips (which is simply glorified McDonalds). At today’s exchange rates it becomes an expensive do. We took some basics with us to help combat the food costs.

Location - Choose your location well. We booked a self-catering hotel on the outskirts of Disneyland in a town called Serris. The hotel was next door to a huge shopping mall that had a great supermarket and it provided a free shuttle to the Disney parks.

Footwear - Long days especially if you go over a special themed event such as Halloween. We spent over 14 hours on one particular day in the parks. Although the kids had a great time, my feet were not so sure.

Length - For us 3 days was enough. We actually went for 4 nights, 5 full days but we were ready for home after 3 days.

Travel - Check out flights versus train. The flight time is approximately 1 hour and we flew from a local airport so no trip to London. It also worked out cheaper to fly!

Shows - Watch them all. You’ll be pleasantly surprised as each one is different and they all offer some form of excitement – even the ones for the younger children.

Plan, Plan, Plan - The big rides offer a Fast Pass facility so you can book a slot to ride. The kid’s rides don’t and often have the biggest queues. We found it best to get there early and jump straight on to the younger children’s rides before the queues started to form.

And finally,

French culture - It definitely takes some getting used to. Queue is not a word they seem to understand!

I hope this gives you some tips and you enjoy your time at Disneyland Paris, we certainly did.